by Samantha Lau
“Ya tryin’ to blind me?” he complained.
“Is it still giving you pains?”
“No.” He grumbled. “Was working jus’ fine ‘till ya went and tried to blind me.”
She let another soft ‘hmm’, straightening, hands on her hips. “Tell me what happened.” She ordered.
Oren pursed his lips, sighed deeply, and told her.
Chapter 3
Wei groaned. His head hurt. His arm hurt... everything hurt. His eyes slowly opened. The ceiling had humidity stains. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. Where was he? He lifted his head, looked at his surroundings, and his breath hitched; he didn’t recognize this place.
The room was big, windowless. There were shelves and cabinets in all walls; medical and biotech implements rested on every surface, some worryingly dustier and dirtier than others. Bionic legs, a robotic hand, a box of chips, jars of medicine; they were scattered with no apparent order, and no apparent care for basic sanitary norms. A desk on the side held at least three different computers, one old and bulky, the type he’d only seen in older films; two modern and slick. Various medical implements of all shapes and sizes, both cheaper looking and expensive alike, and of various ages were found here and there. A woman with long, luscious black hair sat at the desk, paying absolutely no attention to him; she wore a doctor’s robe with some suspicious old rust-colored stains, and dark clothes underneath. She was playing traditional Mah-Jong on one of the newer computers. He’d not seen it be played in ages.
His breathing came faster. Calm down, now, he thought, one thing at a time. He remembered being in his pod – and then something had crashed into him... and then... then... fire...? No, not fire. Hair that looked like fire. Yes. Orange hair. And... running... shot! He gasped. His hand went at once to hold to his wounded arm.
The woman turned to him.
“Ah, you’re up. Good!”
He stumbled out of his seat and tried to back away from her, grabbing the nearest item, which turned out to be an old-fashioned scalpel. He held it out in front of him, pointing it at the woman.
“Who are you? Where am I?” he tried to take in his situation – that his upper clothes were cut, that his wound was bandaged, that he seemed to be in some backwards hospital room...
Despite his reaction, she hadn’t really moved from her chair. She raised a brow, resting an elbow on the desk. “Now put that away, boy, before you hurt yourself with it. You should be more thankful to those who saved your life.”
The door behind Wei opened.
“I brought-”
Wei turned sharply, waving the scalpel around without meaning to.
“Shit!” The orange haired man sprang back quickly, too quickly for a regular human, barely missing having his face sliced in two by the scalpel. He dropped the bag he was carrying, and in what looked like an automatic response, his hands came up to grab Wei’s arm, twisting it until it hurt.
“Ah!” Wei dropped the scalpel. The man released him and bent to pick the dropped items.
Wei stepped away from him, backing himself against a cabinet. He didn’t recognize the man, but he recognized the hair. That bright orange hair was all he could clearly remember after his accident; the rest was just... hazy. “You.”
“Yes, him,” the woman said. “He saved your life. Say thank you, you bastard.”
Wei glared at her for the insult. “Who are you, again?”
The orange haired man set the scalpel down – well out of Wei’s reach – and turned to him.
Wei looked at the door he’d come through, looked back at the two people in the room, then back at the door. That orange-haired man was standing between him and the door.
“Don’t ya even try it,” the man said, his accent unlike anything he’d ever heard before. It made it a little hard to understand him. “You’re safer in here right now anyhow. Here,” he held the bag out. “Brought ya some clothes.”
“You’re far too kind to the brat,” the woman said, turning back to her game. She had no accent, Wei noted. Not when compared to that orange haired man. “Should have let him bleed out.”
Wei looked from one to the other, to the bag. The man held it his way again, encouraging him to take it. In the end, he reached for it and rummaged briefly inside to confirm the contents. He looked back up to find the man staring straight at him. His eyes were the strangest he’d ever seen, even among designer children. One was caramel, the other a bright gold, almost as if it were made from the precious metal.
Wei’s lips tightened, but he finally spoke up. “Thank you... Sorry about...”
“Yeah.” The man said after a brief hesitation. “Oren’s the name,” he held out his hand.
Wei looked at the outstretched hand for a moment before he decided to take it, tentatively. Oren’s shake was firm, strong, even. “I’m-”
“Zhao Wei,” the woman said, causing both men to turn to her. She smiled back at them. “I ran his barcode.”
Wei’s hand came up to rub his neck.
“She’s the doc,” Oren said, pointing at his wounded arm. “She stitch ya up.”
Wei nodded lightly. Where was he? He didn’t recognize the place, but the woman seemed familiar. She was pretty, like designed babies tended to be, and clearly smart. But no clinic in Taizhou was this dirty and disorganized, none that he knew of, anyway. It made him uneasy. And the orange haired man, this... Oren. His gaze shifted back to him briefly. He’d never seen the likes of him. Vibrant hair colors like that were unheard of, he would have stood out like a sore thumb. No one liked to stand out that much.
He had a thousand questions, but had no idea which to ask first, so for now he kept them to himself. “Thanks...”
“Listen, uh... any reason why two weird dudes might wanna be puttin’ holes through ya?”
“Putting– What? No!” Wei said at once, unable to think of why anyone would want him hurt, or worse yet, dead. This kind of thing just... didn’t happen. “Well, no, I don’t think so...”
“Besides him being wealthy, you mean?” the doc called, gaze on her game. “What other reason do humans need?”
“Well, I s’ppose...” Oren said uncertainly. “They might be comin’ ‘round again looking for ya. I think is best we get movin’, now that ya can.”
Wei clutched the bag. Would they come back? How was he going to get past them? Whomever ‘them’ were... He had to get home. What about his parents? Where they safe? Did they know where he was? He had to get back...
He looked back at Oren and, because he seemed to know what he was doing, asked: “You’ll protect me, won’t you?”
The man gave him a long, unreadable look. “I-” he started, but was cut off by the woman.
“For a price. He’ll protect you, for a price.”
Oren snorted and looked back at her. “May I speak to m’own biz here? Thanks.” He turned back to Wei. Those mismatched eyes looked him up and down. At length, he said, “I’ll protect ya.”
Wei sighed, relief washing over him at not being alone. He didn’t expect it’d take very long to get back anyway. How far could they be from his home? From his parents’? It couldn’t be more than a couple hours by pod. And he could pay the man handsomely once back.
Finally, he dared ask. “Where are we? What level of Taizhou is this?” He’d never really seen a section of Taizhou look so... drab. Perhaps they were almost touching the clouds? It certainly made sense. He’d heard living situation there wasn’t the best, and the news had said things were getting worse... Though he couldn’t say he’d expected... this. He watched the other two exchange a little look, and got a bad gut feeling from it. How far had his pod fallen?
“Taizhou? Oh, hon...” Oren called with familiarity, frowning in worry. “Ya ain’t in no Sky City. This is Dimian.”
Wei stared at him. “Dimian? What is Dimian? Where is Dimian?”
“It’s the ground level,” the doctor supplied.
Oren said, “Can’t go any lower without diggn’ into t’gro
und.”
Wei opened his mouth, closed it, and then did it again. It couldn’t be. No. His breath hitched again. No, there was nothing on the ground. The air beneath the clouds was toxic– was he breathing toxic air now? A hand clutched the bag he still held, the other came to lay flat on his chest. But... then how where they alive?
“Oi, oi...” Oren reached out for him and guided him back to the seat.
He went there on trembling legs, chest aching. Was he going to die? He was going to die, wasn’t he? If he even made it back, he was going to be quarantined and die and how where these people not dead? He swayed a bit on his seat.
The woman stood and came to him as well. Her hand rested on his back, gently pushing him forwards. He followed her lead, gripping the bag to his stomach, doubling over until his head was to his knees. Wide eyes stared at the dirty floor, another cruel reminder that he wasn’t home.
He couldn’t breathe. His heart was racing.
“He okay?” Oren’s voice, it sounded like it came from far away.
“It’s a panic attack,” She soothed, “Deep breaths, deep breaths. In... and out... in... there we go... just relax...”
Wei let her voice guide him, tried to follow her pacing: breathe in, hold, breathe out, slow it, breathe in... he shivered, cold now. Her hand rubbed up and down his back, Oren’s did too.
In and out, his breathing slowed. It felt like forever before he’d regained back some control. He straightened up a little, still trembling lightly.
“G-ground... we’re in the ground? But- but they said... this is...”
“It’s not toxic.” The doctor said, clearly knowing what was said in Taizhou. Was she from there? Was she stuck here too? “It’s not barren land. It’s not uninhabited. It’s quite heavily inhabited, in fact.”
Wei looked at her, then back at Oren.
“I have to get back home.” He said, reaching out to grasp Oren’s sleeve. The fake leather under his hand crinkled. “You have to help me back home.” He turned to the doctor. “You have to let me call home. Call my parents... they have to know...”
“Call to the Sky City? From here? Impossible.” The doctor said.
“Right, there’s all sorta prot’cols blockin’ us.”
Wei stared back at them in disbelief. Blocking? They were blocking calls...? Yes. If he stopped to think about it, he supposed that made sense. Clearly, if they really where at ground level as these people said, if there really were people living there, and those in power in Taizhou didn’t want anyone to know...
He turned back to the doctor, frowning. “But you- you said you ran my barcode...”
“A database any doctor can access. Quite different from trying to get a call through.”
Wei wondered about that, but he had to trust if everything else was true, this was, too.
“Oh,” he breathed out a soft prayer, leaning in once more, until Oren’s strong hand patted his shoulder.
“Look... we’ll figure it out, kay? Maybe we can’t call. Maybe we just... get ya to the upper levels?” he sounded hesitant. “We’ll figure it out, but right now? Right now I wanna get you ‘s far from tha crash site as I can. So. Change into ‘em clothes there, and we’ll get movin’.”
Wei nodded lightly.
The doc returned to the desk, and to her game, giving him some privacy to change. Oren, however, was still looking at him. Wei waited, but when it was clear he wouldn’t turn his back on him, started to undress. He was overly conscious as he stripped down to skimpy white underwear, and into the black pants provided to him. The shirt he’d been given was a neon green that nearly blinded him, but he put it on without complaint, compensating by closing the black leatherette jacket and covering the offending bright color. He slipped his dress shoes back on, having nothing to replace them with. They looked far too fancy next to the muddy, yet still blinding neon-orange sneakers Oren was wearing.
“Thanks doc,” Oren called to the woman, who barely bothered to respond by waving a hand back at them. Then his attention was back on Wei. “Less’ go.”
As soon as he was outside, Wei was speechless. The dark clouds above barely let much light in – just enough to tell it was daytime. He could only imagine that the nights would likely be close to pitch black. To make up for it, the colorful neon lights of various establishments illuminated the streets. Some of the lights sported the names of the shops or services. Other claimed to the quality or speed of the items or services provided; others yet were only crude drawings. The mix of English and Chinese spread here as it had above. Perhaps even a little more here.
Wei rested a hand on the threshold for support, and immediately regretted it. The streets were dank; a layer of dampness and dirt seemed to permeate just about every surface. He tried to rub the dampness off on the pants, nose wrinkling. Everything felt gross. The smell carried in the air was not overpowering, but it was certainly less than pleasant; the quality of air might not be toxic in the way the population above had been led to believe, but he was willing to bet it was less than healthy. He wondered again if he wouldn’t end up with some health issues from exposure, if he ever made it back, that was... His companion certainly didn’t seem worried. Oren marched ahead with the confident stride of someone who knew where he was going. Wei wished he was home.
Would his parents have noticed his disappearance already? How long had it been since the crash? He looked uneasily up at the clouds once more, shivering at the cold air. Had they sent someone looking for him? Did his parents even know about this place, or did they think him dead?
“C’mon,” Oren called, closing his own jacket to the ever-present chill, and led the way down the streets.
Wei hurried after him until he’d caught up, then clung a bit to the man’s sleeve, not wanting to get lost in that alien place.
The people they passed were all as colorful of Oren: black and neon colors seemed to be the ‘in’ thing down there, as if they were trying to hide in the dark at the same time attempted to proclaim uniqueness with the daring tones. Everything from clothes to hair to eyes came in the brightest, most striking shades. Anyone in Taizhou would have found it gaudy, just like Wei did. Tattoos and modifications abound; a good part of them plainly visible. Wei had never seen things like that. Genetically engineered babies were a thing, but bodies were considered almost sacred where he was from. To ink it like these people did was offensive. The modifications too, not only that, but any bio-mechanical modification was illegal if done without proper medical reason. Even then, all sanctioned modifications were made to be hidden. You would never know someone was a modified human without being told. Whereas these people...
A man walked past them with half his face tattooed in black and neon blue. A younger man with bumps like horns on his forehead scurried by and glared at them. A woman of loose morals approached them to offer herself with crass words, her robotic arm with a pink chrome finish catching all the lights. Wei couldn’t help but stare at all those blatant modifications, yet he clung a little tighter to Oren’s sleeve. He’d never heard words like that uttered so openly.
The air seemed tense. Wherever he turned he saw looks of suspicion. Even the few people smiling seemed to be threatening. Everyone hurried along those damp streets unhappily.
Everyone but Oren. Oren was... he didn’t seem like he belonged there either, except maybe for his hair. Wei turned his gaze to him, because he was a little overwhelmed with his surroundings. Oren wasn’t like the designer children he was used to being around, he hadn’t been specifically built to be beautiful. But in a way, he was. The slight flaws to his skin and his face, the way his eyes were different colors, the piercings ruining his ears, the gauges stretching his earlobes slightly, the odd curve of his nose, as if it’d been once broken. Despite it all, he had an honest face. He seemed kind. He didn’t appear to have a perpetual glare or scowl like the people they crossed, his smile didn’t look fake.
“Where are we going?” Wei asked.
“Somewhere safe,” wa
s all Oren provided, and it was probably for the best. He could have given him an exact address and Wei would still not have known where they were headed.
He looked away again, this time tightening his hold on the arm rather than just the sleeve. Surely, his friends had noticed he’d missed their graduation. Maybe they’d called his parents. Maybe that’s how they would find out. Wei shivered again. “I’m not feeling too well.”
“I know,” Oren dislodged himself from his grip, only to wrap an arm around him, careful with the wounded arm, but supporting him. “Hang on. We close.”
Wei could only obey and follow, leaning some to this stranger. He’d never felt so helpless before.
Oren walked slow at first, then a little faster, making it hard for Wei to follow. Perhaps noticing, the man slowed down again, offering an apologetic look. He did have the looks of someone who was always in a hurry.
Oren led them down streets and streets of the same: the same boldly modified people, the same stink of humidity, the same drab, damp look; they mixed, becoming one and the same in Wei’s mind. He couldn’t have picked his way back to the doctor’s had his life depended on it. The buildings around them, gray and tall, towered over them and disappeared in the clouds. Crowds flowed, thinning here, thicker there. Some areas seemed to be dedicated to certain groups of people: those with a bolder fashion style here, less modified people further ahead... but in all there was some level of mixture. Not one area was without prostitutes, not one area was without shady groups of men openly sporting guns or knives. They passed some men in black uniforms with bright blue trims. They seemed slightly better dressed than everyone else, though Wei wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint exactly what made him feel so.
“Police,” Oren said when he caught him looking at them. “Stop starin’.”
“Can’t we go to them?” Wei slowly let go of him, hoping to call out for that police, but Oren pulled him back quickly.
“Bǎobǎo, ya don’t wanna mess with ‘em.”
